


Stuck in confinement (or how Stiles goes crazy with boredom)

by Late_to_the_fandom



Category: Sterek - Fandom, Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Bread making, Crafts, Derek has no clue but is turned on when he hears him, He learns French, He uses his google-fu to find things to do, Legos, M/M, Stiles has cabin fever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:55:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29679441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Late_to_the_fandom/pseuds/Late_to_the_fandom
Summary: Stiles knew going into social distancing that it was going to be one of the hardest things he’d have to do in his life. He was well aware of his own limitations, thank you very much. But knowing something and actually live it are two very distinct things. He’d gone in with somewhat of a plan that included Derek’s participation. What he had not banked on was his mate not being there for most of the days he spent in confinement.He started by throwing his schedule out the window and just doing whatever he felt like doing. He went to bed late and woke up in early afternoon. He skipped showers, lazed in his pj’s and did not keep a balanced diet. He binge-watched Netflix and tried to have as much sex as possible.That barely lasted two weeks.Derek, big hearted as he was, threw a wrench in his well laid plans by volunteering to help at the hospital. Stiles new that it was the logical thing to do, what with the “Weres can’t get diseases” thing his Lycan friends had going on, it made sense that they helped.He knew it did, but it did not lessen the sting when it left him home alone.
Relationships: Derek Hale/ Stiles Stilinski, Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale, sterek - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 101





	Stuck in confinement (or how Stiles goes crazy with boredom)

**Author's Note:**

> To all essential workers, thank you.  
> We would not be able to get through this without the amazing work you do all day, every day.

Stiles knew going into social distancing that it was going to be one of the hardest things he’d have to do in his life. He was well aware of his own limitations, thank you very much. But knowing something and actually live it are two very distinct things. He’d gone in with somewhat of a plan that included Derek’s participation. What he had not banked on was his mate not being there for most of the days he spent in confinement.

He started by throwing his schedule out the window and just doing whatever he felt like doing. He went to bed late and woke up in early afternoon. He skipped showers, lazed in his pj’s and did not keep a balanced diet. He binge-watched Netflix and tried to have as much sex as possible. 

That barely lasted two weeks. 

Derek, big hearted as he was, threw a wrench in his well laid plans by volunteering to help at the hospital. Stiles new that it was the logical thing to do, what with the “Weres can’t get diseases” thing his Lycan friends had going on, it made sense that they helped. 

He knew it did, but it did not lessen the sting when it left him home alone. 

Boredom quickly set in and drove him up the walls. He eventually kicked his own butt into action and re-established a schedule. His brain apparently needed the structure and, if he was honest, so did his body, so he set his alarm in the morning, ate at more regular hours, and went to bed before midnight. His brain was happy, but the inactivity was making his mind and body lazy, so he started exercising. 

He created playlists on his phone and every morning he laced his running shoes and he went walking the trails in the preserve. He started with thirty minutes, augmenting his time as it became easier. Once he hit the hour mark, he decided to try a light jog and once that became easy, he switched to running along the paths. From then on his mornings were well occupied, but his afternoon and evenings were sorely lacking in stimuli. 

He busied himself by cleaning the house and planning meals, but there was so much cleaning and meal prep that could be done in a week, so he turned to old habits and spent hours online researching and browsing the internet for things to do. He stumbled on food blogs and decided that baking was a task he could get behind easily. He was always hungry anyway plus a werewolf boyfriend meant that food never went to waste. 

Armed with new resolve, he baked something different every afternoon. He tried at least a dozen varieties of cookies, numerous pies, and variations of banana breads. He tried Nanaimo bars, macarons and meringue and eventually he’d exhausted the options on his list, so he looked into bread making. 

Since he could not present himself in a public setting, on order of everyone in the pack- his dad included- he had to wait for Derek’s next grocery run before he could tackle that particular activity, which meant he had to find other things to fill the hours until then. That is how he found himself downloading Babbel and started learning French. Because why not? His co-worker Étienne was from Québec and he’d always found it fascinating when the man spoke it. 

So, French it was. 

~  
The mornings were pretty routine: get up, get a coffee, go run, take a shower and eat breakfast. 

The afternoons were spent baking, learning a new language, and wasting ridiculous amounts of time browsing the internet.

It was during one of those binge research sessions that he stumbled onto the Lego website and their many Star Wars sets. He felt his heart beat crazily, the geek in him excited at the prospect of building the different space crafts, while his wallet cringed at the prices. 

He needed to be mature about this and not spend over two grands on plastic bricks, so he dumped a bunch of things in his cart then went to get a snack and a glass of water. He checked his emails, both work and personal, as he ate, then he put on a podcast and folded and put away the laundry before returning to his computer.

He rechecked the options he’d put in his cart and opted to keep the Millennium Falcon as it was the most iconic ship, the Storm Trooper helmet, and the baby Yoda/Mandalorian Brickheadz set because it was too darn cute. After deliberations, he added the trio of dinosaurs, because dinosaurs are awesome, okay! He winced at the total, then shrugged it off. It’s not as though Derek wasn’t loaded after all.

The order was delivered less than a week later, and he skipped maniacally through the living room, hugging the parcel to his chest for five minutes straight before he laid out the boxes in a semi-circle on the dining room table and got started on baby Yoda.

~  
He figured repeating French words and phrases would make it harder to concentrate on the plans and builds, but it did not. If anything, having his brain occupied with two tasks that were so different helped not being distracted and it took him less than a week to complete all four sets. 

Plus, he made good headway on basic vocabulary, so he considered it a win/win. 

~  
A few days later, once he was done with his morning routine and had put away a load of laundry, he stood staring at the Legos laid out on the table and decided they could not live there for ever. The thing was, he also did not want to take them apart and store them away in a closet either. 

It was glaringly obvious that what he needed was a way to display them and it just so happened that he’d heard that Ikea delivered. He turned and surveyed the living room, eyes scanning around the area. There was plenty of free space on each side of the entertainment unit, so he grabbed a measuring tape and started taking notes before logging into their website.

He quickly perused the cabinet section and, a few clicks later, he’d purchased two dark grey Milsbo units. He sat back and grinned at the prospect of having to assemble them. And If he happened to repeat “C’est fantastique!” and “Je suis content!” a few times as he danced around the table, well no one needed to know.

That task having been taken care of, he grabbed the file containing the recipes he’d printed and sat at the kitchen island. He’d learned the hard way that using a tablet in the kitchen was not practical as the device always ended up closing the page he needed which meant he had to constantly clean his hands before thumbing the damn thing open again. He grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and riffled through the pages as he ate, putting aside the easiest options from the lot before narrowing it down to Hawaiian diner rolls then shuffling the rest in a neat pile and back into the file.

He threw the apple core in the compost bin then started pulling out the ingredients required and set to make bread for the first time.

The rolls came out better than he anticipated, and it gave him a boost of confidence, knowing he’d be trying other recipes soon. 

He checked the time and noticed he had at least two hours before Derek was due home so he planned dinner around the bread, opting for Hawaiian chicken kebabs, pasta salad and pineapple whip for dessert, wanting to use the ripe fruit before it spoiled. Once he had everything on standby, he plopped himself in front of the TV and relaxed until it was time to start on diner. 

~  
As much as he enjoyed Legos he knew he had to find a less expensive hobby, which is how he found himself back on Amazon. He became the owner of three brand new Diamond painting kits which were delivered a few days later thanks to Derek’s Prime account. 

He’d taken the time to watch tutorials on Youtube so he already knew what to do and was able to start on the first design the moment it was unpackaged. 

It took a bit longer than he’d anticipated to complete but he did not mind as the process was calming and he could dot away while doing his French lessons. He was again able to focus on both tasks simultaneously because they engaged different parts of his brain which had him ponder what other tasks he could accomplish in this manner.

~  
Weeks morphed into months and Stiles’ routine remained mostly the same. His body got toned with added core exercises, his brain became bilingual the more he dialogued in French with Étienne and his pastimes and crafting was out of control. Instagram and TikTok were, unfortunately, a vast source of inspiration and he’d stumbled upon miniature rooms kits, hot chocolate bombs and soap making, which had both made excellent gift options for birthdays and Christmas.

His Lego collection grew steadily, as did the cabinets required to showcase them, their walls were now decorated with numerous diamond paintings and he was seriously thinking about selling his baked goods and soaps with all the interest they garnered from pack, friends and anyone who happened to taste or use his wares.

o-o

Derek returned home from his shift at the hospital completely drained. 

He could not remember what day it was, or how long he’d been doing this. He was physically depleted and mentally worn down and Melissa had ordered him home with strict instructions to not show his face back at the hospital for the next five days. 

He’d pushed himself and had had worked more double shifts than was reasonable, even for an Alpha werewolf. This crisis was unprecedented, and the hospital had severely needed help. Beacon Hills General Hospital was not a large facility by any means, but they still needed more help than the regular staff could provide and that is when Melissa suggested they ask for help with the local weres as they were immune to diseases and viruses. Derek had agreed readily and was put to work the very next day. Sherriff Stilinski had surprisingly followed suit and provided help when his shifts permitted. 

John had asked for the bite three years ago after having been implicated in a shoot out. He had come out of it unscathed, but Stiles had had a major freak out and had yelled at him that if he wanted to play superheroes, he needed to make sure he’d survive the outcome of his choices. The man had showed up at their house the following evening and hugged his son so hard Derek had heard Stiles’ bones creaking. Then he had faced Derek and had made his official request. 

Melissa had made her formal request a few months later, her argument being that she was in constant contact with diseases so the chances she could get sick and transmit anything to the humans in the pack was extremely high. Derek had gladly added both adults to his pack, the bond settling seamlessly in place and his Alpha spark strengthening with the new additions. 

He was proud that most of the pack were now volunteering at BHGH and throughout the community, but he knew he needed to rest when he’d lost his cool and snapped at Liam for something trivial, almost shifting in the process. The beta had cowered in front of him and he’d quickly snapped out of it, apologising profusely. He’d roughed his hands over his face, breathed deeply for long seconds before Liam burrowed against his chest in a rare show of physical scenting. He hugged the young man, running a hand along his back and up his neck, grumbling deep in his chest. When the young man disentangled himself, he noticed Melissa watching them from the nurses’ station, motioning him closer. He ruffled Liam’s hair and apologized again before making his way towards her. 

She stood in front of him, frowning in maternal disappointment and he felt his cheeks heat. He chuckled when she slapped his arm then hugged him. “Derek, go home. You’re exhausted and no use to us in this state. You need to sleep for at least a day, then spend some time cuddling with your boyfriend before you collapse from exhaustion.” He nodded, knowing she was right. “Ok. Yeah. Call Boyd if you need back up. I know he took the las few days off.” She nodded then grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the elevator as she ran her hand up his arm to his shoulder and squeezed, subtly scenting him. Her smile was fond when she pushed him into the elevator car before winking as the doors closed.

He'd driven home on autopilot then stumbled his way inside on muscle memory. He managed to take a quick shower before tumbling into bed, snuggling into Stiles’ warmth and fell asleep between two breaths.

~

He snuffled awake, disoriented by the quiet of the bedroom after so many days spent in the noisy hospital. He shifted around a bit, burying his head in his pillow, and lulled in the space between sleep and wakefulness a while longer. The second time he surfaced was to the smell of fresh baked bread and his grumbling stomach. He stretched, groaning in contentment, and feeling quite rested. He smiled at the muffled sounds he heard from the other side of the closed bedroom door, accompanied by what sounded like French being spoken. Stiles had the habit of turning on the TV to break the silence and he often selected a channel for its droning quality, and he suspected that he wasn’t even aware of it. 

He got up and cracked his neck as he walked to the dresser, grabbing a pair of sweats and pulling them on before following his nose to the kitchen. 

He frowned and surveyed the new artwork on the walls, then stopped dead in his tracks when he turned the corner and spotted the three new glass cabinets filled with Lego builds. He walked to them and perused their contents, surprised that his partner had built all of these and that he had not noticed them before today. He scratched at his cheek, feeling guilty for having missed all these new things. He was spatially aware that his partner was puttering in the kitchen, but he was completely taken aback when he noticed that the tv was off which had him pivot and face the other end of the large space where he was met with the realization that the individual speaking French was Stiles. 

He stood gaping at the person that was his boyfriend, yet not, for many minutes. Stiles was dressed only in a pair of cargo shorts, miles of pale skin on display and the first thing he noticed was how his lithe frame was still lean but was now more muscled. Which, what? When did that happen? He stared in shock at how his thighs and calves were more defined, how he could clearly see the definition of abs that were not there the last time he checked, and the sinewy strength of his forearms as he kneaded bread dough. His hair was longer, and he seemed so comfortable in his own skin and all he could do was gawk in awe. 

He stared in dumbfounded amazement, taking stock of this new version of his partner, only snaping his mouth shut when he realized that the man was having an entire discussion in a language that he most definitely had not spoken a year ago.

“What the fuck?” He realized he’d spoken aloud when Stiles’ head snapped in his direction, a big smile stretching his lips as he deposited the dough in a bowl before covering it with a damp towel, then washed his hands as he concluded his call. In fucking French!

“Oui, c’est bien ça. D’accord, je t’envoie le rapport dès que j’ai terminé de compiler les données. À la prochaine!’’ 

He dried his hands then removed his earbuds and left them atop his phone before walking towards him in a graceful lope. Derek was all kinds of hot and bothered and he said as much, “That’s fucking hot! What the hell Stiles?”, which had Stiles burst out laughing. Stiles got into his personal space, winding his arms around his neck and pressed their foreheads together. “Hey sourwolf.” Derek groaned deep in his chest,” I missed you so much”, and buried his nose against the dip where Stiles neck met his shoulder, inhaling profoundly. They embraced for a long moment, rubbing hands along warm skin, and exchanging intense kisses before Derek’s stomach rumbled loudly. 

Stiles took a step back, smiling at the flush staining his partner’s cheeks then Derek pulled him towards the kitchen, rumbling, “Let’s get food, and you need to start talking. I need you to tell me about all the crap that you’ve been doing. Then after we’re going back to bed. There’s a lot of catching up I need to do.”

**Author's Note:**

> C’est fantastique : it’s fantastic  
> Je suis content : I’m happy  
> Yes, that’s correct. Sure, I’ll send you the report once I’ve compiled all the data. Talk to you later!


End file.
